Romeo and Juliet at Royal Shakespeare Theatre

[dutchman]

Romeo and Juliet at Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, until April 2.
Running time 3hrs 10mins.



WHEN the Scottish FA get round to punishing Old Firm knuckleheads Lennon and McCoist they could do worse then send them down to Stratford for a lesson on the corrosive consequences of tribal hatred.

They would be unlikely to end up sweethearts but they would at least feel at a home in this turbo-charged setting.

With gang violence, three murders and a double suicide, laced with bawdy banter and fuelled by teenage testosterone, downtown Verona is not for the faint-hearted.

Into the maelstrom of blood sweat and leers our star-crossed lovers, played by Sam Troughton and Mariah Gale, up the ante with blazing lust-at-first-sight performances.

That explosive cocktail is breathtakingly staged by the RSC, exploiting the new theatre’s thrust stage to the maximum.

The brilliantly executed set-pieces, like the masked-ball dance and opening fight scenes, are superb theatre, even if the sheer physicality of the performances occasionally threatens to overshadow the subtleties of the text.

There were few in the audience who didn’t fall for JonJo O’Neill’s scene-stealing comic bawdiness as Mercutio.

Purists might bridle at Romeo being kitted out like a Coventry student on demo, when doublet and hose is de rigueur for the rest of the blokes, and Juliet seems to have shopped at Primark for some scenes – but it works.

Presumably the idea was to make it more accessible for younger audiences.

But in this blistering production, I am not sure it’s necessary. The action does speak louder than words.

Rating * * * *

Review by Steve Chilton